Determined Cole vows to turn up the heat on the leaders

Thursday 14 April 2005 23:00 BST

Ashley Cole says Arsenal intend to put the pressure on Chelsea's title charge by beating them at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Cole, who is at the centre of the tapping-up row between the clubs after meeting Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon earlier this year, said: "We are not giving up on the league and are on a good run. We are going to Chelsea without any fear and trying to win the game. That's going to put more pressure on them.

"Chelsea haven't won the league yet so I don't think you can say that they are the best team. Even if they win the league, I would not say that they are the best side."

But Cole, who admitted that the FA Cup is Arsenal's "main priority now", did have praise for Chelsea captain John Terry. "He has been amazing. He is the player of the year," he said.

He said: "I have not decided yet. I will see. You can't say that Sol is 100 per cent but the second [reserve] game was much better than the first. "There is still time. I must think carefully because he is not completely fit yet and we have defended very well recently."

Mathieu Flamini, Gael Clichy and Manuel Almunia are definitely ruled out, but Freddie Ljungberg and Edu are back after hip and hamstring problems respectively and Jose Antonio Reyes has also recovered from a knock.